DARTMOOR’S dominant second half of football saw them topple a tough Coleraine outfit in a hard-hitting South West District Football League match up, 9.6 (60) to 8.5 (53).

After a demolishing defeat last week against Tyrendarra, Coleraine got on the front foot early with a three goal to two opening quarter to open a slender six-point advantage at the first break.

It was obvious however that this would be an arm wrestle with Dartmoor renowned for their defensive work around the stoppages. Many of Dartmoor’s encounters are low scoring, tight affairs and this was no exception.

Dartmoor began to take greater control of the play in the second and third quarters opening a thirteen-point lead at three-quarter time, the largest margin of the day. Dartmoor were able to hold on to the lead in the last quarter despite Coleraine kicking three last quarter goals to run out seven-point winners.

Multiple goalkickers for Dartmoor were Damian Monaghan with three, Jordan Murphy with two, along with singles to Jospeh Franklin, Zac Nash, Connor Stephens, and Steve Cameron. Best players were Damian Monaghan, Marcus Matuschka, Kaleb Bowd, Cody Benson, Lachlan Polaski and Joseph Franklin.

For Coleraine best players were Jack Wright, Harry Armstrong, Zachary Hartley, Sam Tooley, Callem Mizzi and Liam Kaine.

Goalkickers were Bailey Cooper with three, two each to Zach Hartley and Will Slattery, along with a single goal to Harry Armstrong.

Next week Coleraine play Heywood, both searching for their first win.

Westerns come from behind

In a low scoring affair Westerns came home with a wet sail to get over the top of Branxholme-Wallacedale in a thriller.

Westerns were able to kick three unanswered goals in the final thirty minutes to run out winners 7.13 (55) to Branxholme’s 8.4 (52), breaking down a nineteen-point deficit at the last break. While inaccuracy in front of goal and getting the ball into dangerous positions in the forward line is still a work in progress, the fitness level has lifted over summer that allowing Westerns more opportunities to overrun teams.

Westerns coach Winis Imbi said it has been a positive start and they are keen to continue to build into the season.

“The numbers at training over summer and recently are significantly higher, thirty plus on the track is now the norm, players know that if they don’t train that we now have options,” he said.

With a midfield that includes, Cameron Gleeson, Mitch Riddell, Kyle Richardson, and Daniel Lynch they are likely to cause headaches amongst the ladder leaders in the weeks to come. Credit to their coaching team for beginning to establish the belief amongst the playing group that they can rally from a scoring deficit late in the game.

“We know we are a work in progress, for example we still need to work on our composure with the ball going forward, we tend to bomb the ball a bit, we are seeing improvement, we had eight marks in the forward fifty on Saturday in the last quarter to help us get better shots on goal. It will take time however to cement the belief that we can do that for a whole game,” Imbi said.

Next week will be the litmus test for Westerns with Dartmoor their next opponent.

Goal scorers for Westerns, Jed Hamill with two goals, singles to Jesse Wilkinson, Malachy Griffin, Michael Taylor, Daniel Lynch, and Mathew Williams.

Best players were Matthew Stephens, Daniel Lynch, Joseph Saunders, Noah Knight, Cameron Gleeson, and Mitch Riddell.

For the Saints goalkickers were, Kieran Barker and Joel Le Roy with three goals each, and singles to Sam Lambevski, Thomas Scott.

Tyrendarra shine under lights at Heywood

Under lights for a second week in a row, Tyrendarra were clinical in their performance against Heywood in the much-anticipated match in the round two encounter with an 18.11 (119) to 5.6 (36) win.

The opening few minutes were completely controlled by the Lions with the opening two centre bounces resulting in goals.

Leon Davis and Aaron Barr were both looking dangerous, and Heywood’s forward line appeared well structured and hungry to engage in the contest.

Two goals were on the board to Heywood in the first five minutes, at that point Tyrendarra looked shaky and vulnerable.

Over the next phase of the first quarter an arm wrestle ensued, with both sides attempting to assert their dominance.

Jordi Withers was proving a handful for his Heywood minder Jesse Ryan with his strength alongside his ground ball skills.

While Withers finished with six goals for the winners, he now has quality forwards around him to reduce the weight of expectation.

One of those new to the competition is Alex Baker, who is an exciting side act with Withers in the forward line, again kicking straight with a four-goal haul.

Despite the loss Heywood never game up the battle, with a plethora of fresh players coming into the club and challenges over pre-season it will take time for things to settle.

Their assistant coach Leigh Malseed the club is pragmatic in terms of the challenges over the next few weeks.

“We have a number of new players coming into the club and younger players starting to step up,” Malseed said.

“It will take time to develop the consistency in performance that will allow us to compete at the top end of the competition. Things are positive amongst the players; it is only round two.”

Tyrendarra coach Sam Anson post-game was impressed by the ball delivery into the forward line and the multiple options available.

“We have a spread of talent into the forward line and a clear process in place to make the most of that. The players are buying in to the way we want to play. There is a clear consistency in how we deliver the footy to our forwards,” Anson explained.

“It takes time to adjust when playing night games, your routines are out, when to eat, when to start a warmup. It can take time in the initial phase of the game to adjust.”

Other players to stand out for Tyrendarra on the night were Sam Jewell, Eamon Drew, Lachlan Kirk, and Josh Atwell the latter two both down back.

Atwell’s battle with Heywood’s Dane Handreck was an important one in the context of the match.

The major goal scorer for Heywood was Leon Davis with two goals as he was a headache all night for the Tyrendarra defenders.

Other players to perform for Heywood were Jason Walker, Ben Millard, Jesse Ryan, Tanner Barclay, Evan Bott, and Ash Rose.

Cavendish asserts its dominance

Cavendish appears to have maintained its hunger for success with an emphatic eighty-point win over Heathmere in their round two clash, 14.16 (100) to Heathmere’s 3.2 (20).

The scoreline displayed a consistency of performance by Cavendish over the full four quarters of the game starting and finishing the match with four goal quarters.

It was complete dominance, with Cavendish having thirty scoring shots to Heathmere’s five. The major goal scorers for Cavendish were Jake Hardy with four goals and Brodhi Carracher with three.

 James Huff was the other multiple goal scorer with two. To Heathmere’s credit they were able to hit the scoreboard in each of the last three quarters with Kris Hill, James Stanford and Reece Morris all scoring goals.

Better players for Heathmere were Chris Phillips, Cooper and Jed Barclay, coach Nic Guthridge along with the Driscoll’s Cody and Luke.

For the winners Cavendish named their best as Oliver Dinges, Brodhi Carracher, Jake Hardy, Christopher Quinn, William Luhrs and Ben Packman.